Sewing-machine shuttle



(No Model.)

0. H. THURSTON.

SEWING MAGHINE SHUTTLE.

Patented S ept. 6,1881.

Will-1025525.

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES H. THURSTON, OF MARLBOROUGH, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

SEWING-MACHINE SHUTTLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 246,839, datedSeptember 6, 1881.

Application filed November 5, 1880.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES H. THURs'roN, of Marlborough, county ofCheshire, State of New Hampshire, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Sewing-Machine Shuttles, of which the followingdescription, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is aspecification.

This invention in shuttles for sewing-machines relates to means forretaining the bobbin-holder in position when extended across the bobbin;also, to improvements in the construction of the tension device, and inthe manner of holding it in place in the shuttle. The shuttle hereinshown, of usual shape, has lts bobbin held in the shuttle-chamber by aholder made as a vibratory finger extended partially across the head ofthe bobbin, the said finger projecting from a pin or shank fittedloosely in a hole in the shuttle-body, said hole being parallel with theaxisof the bobbin. The wall of the shuttle at one edge of thebobbinreceiving chamber is provided with a notch or recess having aninclined or beveled side, the said notch receiving and retaining theholder when in proper position to keep the bobbin in the shuttle. Theholder when inthis recess is brought so far within the shuttle-bod ythat the loop of needle-thread cannot be caught by the shuttle whenpassing through it, and when the bobbin is to be removed the mereturning of the holder causes it to act upon the inclined side of therecess in which it is placed, thus lifting the holder in the directionof the axis of its shank. The curved end of the bowspring, which formspart of the tension device, enters a groove in the wall of the shuttle,which prevents that end of the spring from being turned out of theshuttle.

Figure 1 represents, in front view, a shuttle made in accordance with myinvention; Fig. 2, a side elevation, partially broken out, to show theshank of the holder and the groove to receive the curved end of thebow-spring em-- ployed for producing tension; Fig. 3, a crosssection ofFig. 2 on the dotted line a: m, Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 shows the bow-sprin gremoved from the shuttle.

The body a of the shuttle is of usual shape,

(No model.)

and has a chamber at its side to receive the headed bobbin 1), a pin orpost, 0, being preferably employed to serve as a center about which thebobbin maybe rotated by the thread. The bobbin is held in place inthe'chamber of the shuttle by a holder, at, shown as a finger having aright-angled shank, 2, screw-threaded at 3, and extended into an openingin the shuttlebody parallel with the axis of the bobbin-receivin gchamber. The shank of this holder has placed upon it a spiral spring, 5,and then a threaded nut, 4, so that by turning the said nut the force ofthe spring is made sufficient to keep the holder in the recess made forit and hold the bobbin in its chamber in the shuttle. The thread in itspassage about the shuttle must touch only the wall of the shuttle, andthe tension devices and bobbin-holder must be wholly contained withinthe outline of the shuttle-body, or else the loop of needle-thread willbe caught and held and defeat proper sewing.

To obviate catching the needle-thread, the body of the shuttle, betweenthe bobbin-chamber and shank 2 of the holder, is cut away or notched toform a recess at the face of the shuttle to receive the holder when inthe position Figs. '1 and 2, the position it occupies when sewing, thespring 5 retaining the holder in the said notch.

When the bobbin is to be removed or a new one inserted in the shuttle,the holder is lifted by the operator and turned aside or laterally fromabove the bobbin, as in Fig. 3, and during such movement the holder actsagainst the inclined edge a of this recess and is lifted, the shank ofthe holder then moving longitudinally, its nut 4 compressing the spring5.

The tension device placed in a recess, 16, at the face of the shuttle,is composed of a U- shaped or bow spring, h, having broad ends 14 15,the outer side of the end 14 having a smooth face to bear upon one sideof the thread 18, led between it and the inner wall of the recessopposite the smooth face of the end 14, the said wall being also madesmooth and hard.

The narrow curved end 10 is made to enter a groove, 13, (shown insection, Fig. 2, and in dotted lines, Fig. 1,) which acts to preventthat end of the spring from being turned out of the shuttle. Afterleaving the bobbin the thread is led into the slots 19 20, thencebetween the face of the end 14 of the spring and the inner smooth wallof the shuttle, and out through a hole (shown in dotted lines, Fig. 1,)at the top of the shuttle.

The tension or pressure of the spring on the thread may be increased ordecreased by the shouldered screw 21, which acts on the arm 15 of thespring. The screw 21 to be turned may be engaged by a screw-driver ateither end. The spring h has two opposite holes, 22and 23, to receivethe screw 21, it thus serving to hold the main part of the spring inplace.

I claim 1. The shuttle-body having the beveled or inclined notch at theedge of its bobbinchamber, combined with the axially-movablebobbin-holder (I, provided with a shank, 2, and adapted to rest in thesaid notch, and with the nut 3 and spring to act upon the shank of andkeep the holder in the said notch of the shuttle-body to retain thebobbin in place, the said holder being lifted bythe incline of theshuttlebody when being turned aside for the removal of the bobbin,substantially as described.

2. Theshuttle-body provided with the recess 16 and the groove 13 and theU-shaped or bow spring it, having a portion, 10, thereof entered intothe said groove, combined with the adj listing-screw extended throughholes in the said spring, the screw holding the spring in the saidrecess, to operate substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHAS. H. THURSTON.

Vitnesses G. W. GREGORY, BERNIGE J. NoYEs.

